Mind over Matter

In my last post, I talked about the difference between Wonder Woman’s adversaries and the supervillains faced by Batman, Superman, and the like. Our recent Wonder Woman readings have interestingly added more “super” villains. Instead of clobbering crooked milk tycoons and shady business owners, Wonder Woman now has to face Greco-Roman gods and psychotic ectoplasm manipulators. These (relatively) newer villains seem to pose a greater threat to Wonder Woman and society. While Del Slimo, De Gyppo, and the Baroness posed a threat to society, they actually could to very little to Wonder Woman herself, as Wonder Woman easily escaped being chained to the back of a vehicle and being submerged in milk (which was a really ill-conceived idea in the first place). On the other hand, enemies like Pluto and Dr. Psycho are at least capable of posing a direct threat to Wonder Woman whether it is in terms of might or psychic power. Villains like Pluto and Dr. Psycho are more similar to more standard supervillains like Lex Luthor. Dr. Psycho in particular is similar to Lex Luthor, as both are geniuses who have mildly sympathetic origins who turn to evil in pursuit of their goals. While Dr. Psycho is a crazed misogynist and Luthor is a megalomaniac, both are recurring villains that are faced by their respective heroes. Although Dr. Psycho becomes a recurring villain, he still keeps his misogynistic attitude, which still makes him a symbolic adversary. When Wonder Woman thwarts Dr. Psycho’s diabolical plans, she is not only stopping evil, but also fighting against misogyny. One could argue that while Dr. Psycho is a less formidable foe than Lex Luthor, he still manages to have some symbolic value that Luthor lacks.